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ASH Daily news for 30 March 2011

HEADLINES

  • Australia: Tobacco industry's anti plain packaging ad campaign backfires

    A major tobacco-industry funded advertising blitz has backfired, with new research revealing the "It won't work, so why do it" campaign persuaded more people to support the plain packaging of cigarettes than oppose it.

    The Cancer Council Victoria survey of 2,101 Victorians who recalled the ad campaign found that more than eight out of ten respondents said the ad didn't affect their view of plain packaging.

    Only 3.9% of respondents felt the ad reduced their support of plain packaging.  Just over half of those surveyed  recognised that the ads, under the moniker of the 'Alliance of Australian Retailers', were funded by the tobacco industry.
     
    Quit Executive Director Fiona Sharkie said the study showed the public wasn't falling for the industry's dirty tricks, but added that it was worrying that only just over half of respondents knew the ads were funded by the tobacco industry.
     
    "Alarmingly it's only a small majority of people who know who's behind this campaign, and that's exactly what the tobacco-industry wants. It knows people don't trust it, but hope it will trust this sham front group the 'Alliance of Australian Retailers'," Ms Sharkie said.
     
    Source: International Business Times, 30 March 2011
    Link: http://bit.ly/dQAhNW

  • Gateshead doctor calls for research into 'e-cigarettes'

    A doctor from Tyneside has called for more research into "electronic" cigarettes following the death of one of his patients.

    It comes after an inquest recorded an open verdict into the death of Terence Miller from Gateshead.
     
    Mr Miller, who used large quantities of the substitutes, had suffered from a lung disease - severe lipoid pneumonia. Dr Rob Allcock, who treated him at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, has suggested that this could be associated with his e-cigarette use.
     
    Dr Allcock said, "There's some limited research merely mentioning what the chemical composition [of "electronic" cigarettes] is, but there's no systematic research assessing the overall safety of inhaling these chemicals deep into the lungs over an extended period."
    Source: BBC News, 28 March 2011
    Link: http://bbc.in/huDZQ9

  • Shisha pipe smoking among young 'rising in Leicester'

    GPs in Leicester say they are seeing an increase in teenagers with health problems linked to shisha pipe smoking.

    Qasim Chowdary, a PCT smoking cessation adviser, said shisha pipe smoking was now incredibly popular among youngsters of all cultures and ethnicity whereas the practice had been non-existent among the age group a few years ago.
     
    Mr Chowdary said: "There is a massive misconception that shisha smoking isn't as harmful as cigarette smoking.  In fact research by the World Health Organization has shown an average pipe smoking session of around an hour is equivalent to smoking up to 200 cigarettes."
     
    The health risks are similar to cigarette smoking, including respiratory and heart disease.
     
    Leicester City Council is working with other agencies to ensure all shisha cafes comply with smoke free regulations. Already a number of shisha cafes have been prosecuted for flouting the law and more are being taken to court.
    Source: BBC News, 30 March 2011
    Link: http://bbc.in/ibtEL1

  • Canada: City to ban smoking at athletic sites

    Winnipeg soccer spectators will be forced to butt out this spring as the city gears up to ban smoking on athletic fields, playgrounds, and public pools.

    A by law is being drafted in time for the start of the outdoor sport season this spring.
     
    Councillor Gord Steeves said the bylaw will be limited to athletic fields where youth are playing sports, playgrounds, school grounds and public pools.
     
    Winnipeg Youth Soccer Association spokesman Adam Dooley called the proposed ban "fantastic." "We're talking about a sporting event. Smoking is clearly a very unhealthy activity," Dooley said. "
     
    Source: Winnipeg Free Press, 30 March 2011
    Link: http://bit.ly/gdaNDE

  • USA: Hennepin County bans smoking on all property

    Hennepin County in Minnesota, has enacted a strict countywide smoking ban, effective from 1 July 1 this year, which will prohibit smoking on any county property, even in parked vehicles.

    On a vote of 6 to 1, the County Board approved a new tobacco-free policy for all county-owned -leased property where the county is the only tenant.
     
    Board chair Mike Opat says a blanket ban is easier to enforce than trying to police building entryways.

    "If we take away the ashtrays and take away the containers and have appropriate signage, I think the security officers will have a lot less to do," said Opat.
     
    Drivers on county roads may still smoke in their cars. Also exempted are psychiatric patients in a designated area of the Hennepin County Medical Center.
     
     
    Source: MPR News, 29 March 2011
    Link: http://bit.ly/e4Aj2q

  • USA: Texas budget crisis threatens anti-smoking programme

    Lawmakers are prepared to suspend the state's smoking prevention program because of budget problems, despite estimates that smoking-related diseases cost Texas at least $1.6 billion a year in Medicaid payments alone.

    The House appropriations bill, scheduled for debate this weekend, would wipe out the $10 million-a-year anti-smoking campaign,  a legacy of the state's 1998 settlement with big tobacco companies.
     
    To save the anti-smoking effort, Rep. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston, is pushing a bill to increase the state cigarette excise tax by $1.05 per pack.

    The tax hike would generate about $375 million a year in extra revenue for Texas, according to Legislative Budget Board estimates.Alvarado would use $25 million a year for anti-smoking programs and the remainder for property tax cuts.

    "Money placed into tobacco prevention programs is a drop in the bucket compared to the savings that eventually would be realized in health care costs," said Dr. Susan Bailey, president of the Texas Medical Association.
    Source: Houston and Texas News, 29 March 2011
    Link: http://bit.ly/e5IDix

  • USA: Bill would ban smoking in cars with children

    A South Carolina bill making it illegal for drivers or passengers to smoke with a child in the vehicle is up for debate by a House panel on Wednesday.

    The bill would bar smoking a cigarette when there's a child in the vehicle in a safety seat. State law requires children up to six years old to be in a safety or booster seat.  Someone caught smoking in the car could be fined $25.
     
    Democratic Sen. Darrell Jackson of Hopkins initially proposed the idea in 2007 after seeing a woman in a Wal-Mart parking lot puffing away with a child strapped in the back seat.
    Source: The Sun News, 30 March 2011
    Link: http://bit.ly/fTUoLi

  • Canada: More provinces to ban smoking in cars with children

    Smoking in a car carrying a child  is likely to be illegal in Newfoundland and Labrador from July this year, if a new law is approved.

    Most Canadian provinces already have legislation banning smoking in vehicles carrying children.

    Earlier this week, Health Minister Jerome Kennedy introduced amendments to the N.L. Smoke-free Environment Act. If the amendments are passed, smoking would be outlawed in any vehicle "while a person under 16 years of age is present."

    It would also become illegal to have a designated smoking room at the office. Kennedy said the changes will further protect people against second-hand smoke.
    Source: CBC News, 29 March 2011
    Link: http://bit.ly/eYg2pn